"Brings us closer to the vicious model of Russia, not Europe" - President of Georgia on the law "on foreign agents"

Zurabishvili on foreign agents bill

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili reacted to the draft law “On Foreign Agents” in the country’s parliament, saying the proposed law “brings us closer to the vicious model of Russia.”

The draft law “On transparency of foreign influence” initiated by the “People’s Power” movement was submitted to the Georgian parliament.

Journalists protested immediately at a perceived threat to media freedom in Georgia.

The parliamentary majority intends to determine the final position in the next two weeks.

The President stated that she could not support this law “during an initial assessment of fulfillment of the EU’s twelve points” for Georgia to receive EU candidate status. According to Zurabishvili, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “makes the question of the European future more and more urgent.”

“It was at this time that a political group decides to initiate a law that, in its content, brings us closer to the vicious model of Russia, not Europe. And just as US Senators visit the country!

We cannot attribute everything to chance. A force has been created that, instead of strengthening Georgia’s European path, posits another direction for Georgia.

The President of Georgia will not support such legislation and prosecution of alleged agents,” Zurabishvili’s statement reads.

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On February 20, US Senators Jean Shaheen and Dick Durbin visited Georgia. Jin Shaheen said at a press conference on the “foreign agents” law initiated by the People’s Power deputies, who formally left the Georgian Dream, that the bill is not similar to US law, but to Russian law.

On February 16, the official representative of the US State Department, Ned Price, reacted to the initiative of the deputies formally separated from the “Georgian dream” about “foreign agents” and declared that such a law would create a potential threat to the Euro-Atlantic movement of Georgia. According to Price, the law is based not on the American, but on the Russian and Hungarian versions of this legislative act.

According to Price, the proposed law will exclude and silence the independent voice of Georgian citizens who strive to create a better future for their society.

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Deputies, who formally separated from the party “Georgian Dream” and founded the movement “Vlast naroda”, registered in the parliament the draft law “On transparency of foreign influence”, which concerns the activities of organizations working with foreign financing.

Georgian non-governmental organizations receiving funding from foreign sources must enter the register of “foreign agents”. According to one of the leaders of the movement and former public defender Sozar Subari, this will be an analogue of Western transparency of financing and it has nothing in common with the Russian model.

According to Guram Macharashvili, another leader of “People’s Power”, based on the principles of openness and transparency, the public should know the sources of income not only of politicians who make decisions, but also of NGOs and media that influence public decisions and participate in the formation of public opinion or make Active participation in discussions held by legislative and executive bodies when adopting laws or decisions.

According to Macharashvili, the issue of registration of the above-mentioned subjects as agents of foreign influence is provided by the National Agency of the State Register.